In today's economy, 'Help Wanted' signs are visible everywhere. Employers are eagerly searching to fill their vacancies as the unemployment rate reaches an all-time low. As a professional who has been in the human services field for more years than I care to reveal, it is inspiring and refreshing to now be at the receiving end of phone calls, e-mails, and inquiries from businesses interested in matching and filling th...

On August 24, 2018, the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) announced three new directives in furtherance of its efforts to make the agency more transparent and efficient and to maximize the effectiveness of compliance assistance outreach. This article focuses on two of the three directives: an initiative establishing a recognition program for contractors with 'high-quality and high-performing complianc...

The long-awaited, much anticipated new Directive on OFCCP's compensation analysis methodology has finally arrived … but for those contractors hoping for radical reform, the unfortunate news is there will be little change in the Agency's approach to compensation evaluations. For that reason, Directive 2018-05 – 'Analysis of Contractor Compensation Practices During a Compliance Evaluation' (issued Augus...

The OFCCP has now released a total of seven (7) directives in 2018. With the intent of alleviating the gap between the agency's enforcement and the federal contractors' compliance obligations, the OFCCP held town hall and stakeholder meetings in the latter part of 2017 and in the first quarter of 2018. In those meetings, the OFCCP listened to, discussed with, and assured the federal contracting community of a more...

96 The OFCCP Digest is a complimentary resource for federal contractors on topics of Affirmative Action, EEO, and government compliance....

Author’s note: Pay equity and pay equity analyses are a complex and nuanced issue, and context matters. Employers should always consult with legal counsel prior to engaging in any proactive pay equity studies and conduct those analyses under the attorney-client privilege. As part of their obligation to 'evaluate compensation system(s) to determine whether there are gender-, race-, or ethnicity-based disparities'...

According to a 2017 CareerBuilder survey1 of 2,250 U.S. hiring managers and HR professionals survey, companies lost an average of $14,900 on every “bad hire” in the last year, and it's a common mistake — nearly three in four employers (74 percent) say they've hired the wrong person for a position and that half of these bad hires have quit within the first six months of employment. When asked how...

As I visit and observe what I call the “existential festivals” – events like Burning Man, SXSW, TED, Sundance, Bonnaroo, and ArtPrize, for example – I ask myself, “What are people really trying to accomplish here – besides just having fun?” The answer I’ve come away with – after quite a bit of pondering – is that people are trying to use these events to help the...

I’ve noticed something lately during my time on the yoga mat. My yoga practice isn’t just enhancing my mental and physical health; it’s also highlighted some interesting parallels that map to essential leadership concepts. I suppose that makes sense, considering yoga has been a path to self-realization and enlightenment for thousands of years. A yoga studio (or our yoga space at home) might seem far rem...

In my experience as a workforce author and consultant, I’ve observed that organizations tend to invest more in their employees during good economic times, and pull back development efforts when their businesses are feeling the pinch. Let’s recall what we learned from our earliest years in school. Our teachers encouraged us to master material through repetition. We’d be introduced to a concept in class,...